GLAAD - Irene Monroehttp://www.glaad.org/tags/irene-monroe
enGuest Post: Black Pride, distinct and emblematichttp://www.glaad.org/blog/guest-post-black-pride-distinct-and-emblematic
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-featured field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img class="media-image" height="267" id="2" style="height: 267px; width: 200px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; float: left;;;" width="200" src="http://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/irene-headshot.jpg?itok=nePUrubW" alt="" /><em>Rev. Irene Monroe lives in Cambridge and is a Huffington Post blogger, and a syndicated religion columnist. A native of Brooklyn, Rev. Irene Monroe is a graduate from Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University, and served as a pastor at an African-American church before coming to Harvard Divinity School for her doctorate as Ford Fellow. As a syndicated queer religion columnist, Monroe's columns appear in 43 cities across the country and in the U.K.</em></p>
<p><em>Join GLAAD for Pride events around the country by visiting <a href="http://www.glaad.org/pride">www.glaad.org/pride</a>. </em></p>
<p>Black Pride reaffirms our identity. And it dances to a different beat.</p>
<p>What started out in Washington D.C. in 1990 as the only Black Gay Pride event in the country has grown to over 35 gatherings nationwide. Each year celebrations start in April and continue to October. Over 300,000 LGBTQ people of African descent rev up for a weekend of social and cultural events celebrating their queer uniqueness. In 2007 alone over 350,000 attended Black Gay Pride events throughout the U.S. The largest events are held in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Atlanta, and smaller Black Pride events (like Boston’s) provide an important sense of identity and cultural heritage.</p>
<p>Sunday gospel brunches, Saturday night Poetry slams, Friday evening fashion shows, bid whist tournaments, house parties, the smell of soul food and Caribbean cuisine, and the beautiful display of African art and clothing are just a few of the cultural markers that make Black Pride distinct from the dominant queer culture.</p>
<p>Just like in the mainstream of American society, cultural acceptance and inclusion of LGBTQ communities of color in larger Pride events is hard to come by. Many can experience social exclusion and invisibility in the big events. Segments of our population will attend separate Black, Asian, and Latino Gay Pride events in search of the unity that is the hallmark of Pride.</p>
<p>The themes and focus of Black, Asian, and Latino Pride events are different from the larger Pride events. Prides of communities of color focus on issues not solely pertaining to the LGBTQ community, but rather on social, economic, and health issues impacting their entire community. The growing distance between our larger and white LGBTQ community and these LGBTQ communities of color is shown by how, for an example, a health issue like HIV/AIDS that was once an entire LGBTQ community problem is now predominately a challenge for communities of color.</p>
<p>Also, with advances such as hate crime laws, the repeal of the military’s "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," the legalization of same-sex marriage in many states, and with homophobia viewed as a national concern, the LGBTQ movement has come a long way since the first Pride marches four plus decades ago. Many note the perceived distance the LGBTQ community has traveled in such a short historic time—from a disenfranchised group on the fringe of America’s mainstream to a community now on the verge of equality. But not all members of our community have crossed the finish line. Some are waving the cautionary finger that within our community to note that not all are equal.</p>
<p>Pride events can be public displays of those disparities.</p>
<p>Mainstream Prides have themes focused on marriage equality for the larger community where Prides organized by and for LGBTQ people of African descent have focused not only on HIV/AIDS but also unemployment, housing, gang violence, and LGBTQ youth homelessness. After decades of Pride events where many LGBTQ people of African descent asked to be included and weren’t, Boston Black Pride was born. Boston Black Pride this year will neither be a formal gathering of folks nor will there be a display of scheduled festivities. But it will groove on as it always has for the community, with more individual and impromptu events.</p>
<p>By 1999 Black Pride events have grown into the International Federation of Black Prides, Inc. (IFBP). The IFBP is a coalition of twenty-nine Black Pride organizations across the country. It formed to promote an African diasporic multicultural and multinational network of LGBTQ/ Same Gender Loving Pride events and community based organizations dedicated to building solidarity, health, and wellness and promoting unity throughout our communities.</p>
<p>Also in understanding the need to network and build coalitions beyond its immediate communities, IFBP created the formation of the Black/Brown Coalition.</p>
<p>Black Pride is an invitation for community. Like the larger Pride events that go on during the month of June throughout the country, Black Pride need not be viewed as either a political statement or a senseless non-stop orgy of drinking, drugging and sex. Such an “either-or” viewpoint creates a dichotomy, which lessens our understanding of the integral connection of political action and celebratory acts of songs and dance for our fight for our civil rights.</p>
<p>While Pride events are still fraught with divisions, they, nonetheless, bind us to a common struggle for LGBTQ equality.</p>
<p>Black Pride contributes to that struggle for equality, demonstrating an African diasporic aspect of joy and celebration that symbolizes not only our uniqueness, but it also affirms our commonality as an expression of LGBTQ life in America.</p>
<p>Happy Pride!</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pubdate field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">June 5, 2013</span></div></div></div>
<div class="field field-name-field-issues field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div>
<ul class="field-items">
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/news">News</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/local-and-regional-news">Local and Regional News</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/family">Family</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/people-color">People of Color</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/religion-and-faith">Religion and Faith</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/transgender">Transgender</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/young-adult">Young Adult</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<!--
THIS FILE IS NOT USED AND IS HERE AS A STARTING POINT FOR CUSTOMIZATION ONLY.
See http://api.drupal.org/api/function/theme_field/7 for details.
After copying this file to your theme's folder and customizing it, remove this
HTML comment.
-->
<div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div>
<ul class="field-items">
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/irene-monroe">Irene Monroe</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/black-pride">Black Pride</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/pride">pride</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Wed, 05 Jun 2013 16:30:33 +0000rossmurray66336 at http://www.glaad.orghttp://www.glaad.org/blog/guest-post-black-pride-distinct-and-emblematic#commentsGuest post: Dis-membering Stonewallhttp://www.glaad.org/blog/guest-post-dis-membering-stonewall
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-featured field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><i><em>The following is from an essay that appears in a new collection of LGBT writings about New York City,</em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Love-Christopher-Street-Reflections-York/dp/193646734" target="_hplink">Love, Christopher Street: Reflections of New York City</a><em>, edited by Thomas Keith, with an introduction by Christopher Bram, and published by Vantage Point Books. The names in the story has been changed to protect identities.</em></i></p>
<p><i><em><strong>By Rev. Irene Monroe</strong></em></i></p>
<p><img class="media-image" height="254" id="2" style="float: right; width: 191px; height: 254px;" width="191" src="https://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/MonroeIrene03_hcm.jpeg?itok=HkIe80Fx" alt="" />Friday, June 27th, was the last day of school that year. And with school out, my middle-school cronies and I looked forward to a summer reprieve from rioting against Italian, Irish and Jewish public school kids for being bussed into their neighborhoods. However, the summer months in Brooklyn’s African American enclaves only escalated rioting between New York’s finest—the New York Police Department—and us. During this tumultuous decade of Black rage and white police raids, knee-jerk responses to each other’s slights easily set the stage for a conflagration, creating both instantaneous and momentary fighting alliances in these Black communities­ across gangs, class, age, ethnicity and sexual orientations—against police brutality.</p>
<p>That night of June 27th started out no differently than any hot and humid summer Friday night in my neighborhood. Past midnight, folks with no AC or working fans in their homes were just hanging out. Some lounged on the fire escapes while others were on the stoops of their brownstones laughing and shooting the breeze. Some were in heated discussion of Black revolutionary politics, while the Holy Rollers were competing with each other over Scripture. The Jenkins boys were drumming softly on their congas to the hot breezy mood of the night air. And directly under the street lamp was an old beat-up folding card table where the Fletchers and the Andersons, lifelong friends and neighbors, were shouting over a game of bid whist.</p>
<p>The sight of Dupree galloping up the block toward us abruptly interrupted the calm of the first hour of Saturday, June 28th. Dupree stopped in front of the gaming table and yelled out, “The pigs across the bridge are beating up on Black fa**ots—right now!” Cissy Anderson, who was just moments from throwing in her hand to go to bed, let out a bloodcurdling scream that shook us and brought a momentary halt to everything. Nate Anderson grabbed his wife to comfort her and said, “Cissy, calm down.”</p>
<p>Greenwich Village in the 1800s had housed the largest population for former slaves in the country. But gentrification forced racial relocation and led to Harlem becom­ing the Mecca of Black America.</p>
<p>When Dupree stopped in front of Mr. Fletcher’s game table, he was signaling to his aunt and uncle that their son Birdie, who sang like a beautiful songbird, was more than likely in the melee across the bridge. Everyone knew Birdie was gay, and we wondered where he and his “brother-girls,” as he dubbed them, had gone on the weekends when they laughed and spoke in code on Sundays about their exploits while robing-up for choir.</p>
<p>Cissy detested that her eldest, Nate Turner “Birdie” Anderson, Jr., went outside the community to a white neighborhood to be himself. Nate, Sr., too, worried about his eldest son. When Birdie told his dad he was gay, his father asked him if he understood that he didn’t know how to keep him safe, especially if his son wandered out of his purview. When his voice rose above Dupree’s and the crowd, we were as shocked to silence as we were by Cissy’s bloodcurdling scream. “My son is somewhere there and I need you all to help me find him and bring him home safely to his mother and me.”</p>
<p>Coming out of the subway station at Christopher Street we could hear the commotion. The shoving and pushing by both protestors and police yanked three of us away from the core group; we were left to fend for ourselves. </p>
<p>As the momentum of the crowd pushed my small group to Waverly Place, a block away from the Stonewall, we witnessed two white cops pummeling a Black drag queen. “I should shove this stick up your ass,” said one of the cops as he pulled up her dress with a nightstick in his hand. The taller of the two cops yanked off her wig and laughingly tossed it to the other cop. In spotting us, the cop who caught the wig threw it at us yelling, “You ni**er fa*s get away!” The wig missed and landed about a foot away from us, but the cop’s words hit, striking fear. </p>
<p>When I look back at the first night of the Stonewall Inn riots, I could have never imagined its future importance. The first night played out no differently from previous riots with Black Americans and white policemen. And so too, it being underreported. But I was there.</p>
<p>On the first night of the Stonewall Inn riots, African Americans and Latinos were the largest percentage of the protes­tors because we heavily frequented the bar. For Black and Latino homeless youth and young adults, who slept in nearby Christopher Park, the Stonewall Inn was their stable domicile. The Stonewall Inn being raided was nothing new. In the 1960s gay bars in the Village were routinely raided, but, “Race is said to have been another factor. The decision by the police to raid the bar in the manner they did may have been influenced by the fact that most of the ‘homosexuals’ they would encounter were of color, and therefore even more objectionable.” </p>
<p>The Stonewall Riot of June 27-29, 1969 in Greenwich Village started on the backs of working class African American and Latino queers who patronized that bar. Those brown and Black LGBTQ people are not only absent from the photos of that night, but have been bleached from its written history. Many LGBTQ Blacks and Latinos argue that one of the reasons for the gulf between whites and themselves is about how the dominant queer community rewrote and continues to control the narrative of Stonewall.</p>
<p><i>Rev. Irene Monroe lives in Cambridge and is a Huffington Post blogger, and a syndicated religion columnist</i><em>. Read more at <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/irene-monroe/">The Huffington Post.</a></em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150990477688840&amp;set=a.468379118839.258644.186319338839&amp;type=3&amp;theater"><img class="media-image" id="2" style="height: 200px; width: 200px;" src="https://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/stonewall_0.jpg?itok=t5HeAePI" alt="" /></a></p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pubdate field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">June 27, 2012</span></div></div></div><!--
THIS FILE IS NOT USED AND IS HERE AS A STARTING POINT FOR CUSTOMIZATION ONLY.
See http://api.drupal.org/api/function/theme_field/7 for details.
After copying this file to your theme's folder and customizing it, remove this
HTML comment.
-->
<div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div>
<ul class="field-items">
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/stonewall">Stonewall</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/irene-monroe">Irene Monroe</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/faith">Faith</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/coad">COAD</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Wed, 27 Jun 2012 18:13:11 +0000glaad58377 at http://www.glaad.orghttp://www.glaad.org/blog/guest-post-dis-membering-stonewall#commentsReligion's Role in Shaping Conversation About Hate Crimeshttp://www.glaad.org/2008/10/10/religions-role-in-shaping-conversation-about-hate-crimes
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-featured field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Reflecting on the legacy of <a href="http://glaadblog.org/index.php/tag/matthew-shepard-week-of-remembrance/">Matthew Shepard</a>, I can’t help but be reminded of Rev. Harry Jackson’s <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-06-15-hate-crimes_N.htm">2007 attacks</a> on the Matthew Shepard Act. The act would have provided much-needed hate crime protections for the LGBT community – but Jackson and other like-minded faith leaders stood in opposition of these critical protections on what they deemed “religious grounds.”</p>
<!--more--><div style="width: 203px;float:left;"><a href="http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/harryjackson_muzzlepulpit_top.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3026" title="harryjackson_muzzlepulpit_top" src="http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/harryjackson_muzzlepulpit_top.png" alt="Harry Jackson" width="193" height="99" /></a>
<p>Harry Jackson's Campaign Against the Matthew Shepard Act</p>
</div>
<p>Shortly after Jackson and his High Impact Leadership Coalition launched their <a href="http://www.indianavoice.org/national/HILC_RollCall_REVISE_3_0.pdf">ad campaign</a> attacking the proposed Act, <a href="http://www.irenemonroe.com/2007/06/21/gulf-between-black-gay-communities-narrowing/">Rev. Irene Monroe</a>, a religion columnist, public theologian and speaker, made a <a href="http://www.irenemonroe.com/2007/06/21/gulf-between-black-gay-communities-narrowing/">compelling argument</a> for why Jackson’s comments were inaccurate, manipulative and emblematic of what she calls an outspoken and fading group of anti-gay faith leaders in black churches:</p>
<blockquote><p>"The tide is turning in the American-African community toward acceptance of LGBTQ people. And if black churches and faith-based organizations like High Impact continue to not accept us, it looks like the rest of the community will."</p></blockquote>
<div style="width: 145px;float:right;"><a href="http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/reverendirenemonroe_top_feature.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3022" title="reverendirenemonroe_top_feature" src="http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/reverendirenemonroe_top_feature.png" alt="" width="135" height="152" /></a>
<p>Reverend Irene Monroe</p>
</div>
<p>Monroe is right to highlight the growing acceptance of LGBT people. While Jackson implies he is carrying the mantle for the <a href="http://www.indianavoice.org/national/HILC_RollCall_REVISE_3_0.pdf">black community,</a> the views and beliefs of African Americans are too diverse to be represented by any single individual.</p>
<p>In a recent <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E6D6113BF93BA1575AC0A96E9C8B63">New York Times letter</a> regarding race and marriage for same-sex couples, <a href="http://californianaacp.org/">Alice Huffman</a> of the NAACP had it right when she pointed out that any attempt by the media to frame the African American community as “monolithically homophobic” is errant:</p>
<blockquote><p>"I have worked closely with many African-American community leaders and supporters of full rights for gay men and lesbians, including the right to marry in California. … Both blacks and whites have been divided on the issue, and race appears to be less of a determinant than age, gender and party affiliation on black voters' views on marriage equality." </p></blockquote>
<p>I would heartily agree it is unfair to portray religious communities as monolithically anti-gay. Churches across America are actually <a href="http://www.washingtonblade.com/2008/10-3/view/columns/13358.cfm">moving to the forefront</a> in promoting LGBT equality and ending violence toward LGBT people. Even denominations that do not allow ordination of LGBT people, such as the United Methodist Church, have adopted policies to <a href="http://www.generalconference2008.org/opposition-to-homophobia-.html">curb homophobia</a>.</p>
<p>We have many reasons to be proud of the strides our churches have made in the 10 years since the death of Matthew Shepard. There are many faith leaders who recognize the power of their words to either prevent the spread of LGBT discrimination or, sadly, to justify violence toward LGBT people.</p>
<p>When the Matthew Shepard Act was meeting resistance from organizations like High Impact, faith groups like the Presbyterian Church, Episcopal Church, and the Interfaith Alliance <a href="http://www.hrc.org/5660.htm">were advocating</a> for the bill's swift passage.</p>
<p>That's why it is so important that the media continue highlighting the role religious leaders play in advocating for hate crime protections and stemming violence toward the LGBT community.<br /></p><div align="left">
</div>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pubdate field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">October 10, 2008</span></div></div></div>
<div class="field field-name-field-issues field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div>
<ul class="field-items">
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/religion-and-faith">Religion and Faith</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<!--
THIS FILE IS NOT USED AND IS HERE AS A STARTING POINT FOR CUSTOMIZATION ONLY.
See http://api.drupal.org/api/function/theme_field/7 for details.
After copying this file to your theme's folder and customizing it, remove this
HTML comment.
-->
<div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div>
<ul class="field-items">
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/alice-huffman">Alice Huffman</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/harry-jackson">Harry Jackson</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/hate-crime-legislation">Hate Crime Legislation</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/irene-monroe">Irene Monroe</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/matthew-shepard">Matthew Shepard</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/matthew-shepard-week-remembrance">Matthew Shepard Week of Remembrance</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/naacp">NAACP</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/new-york-times">New York Times</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:14:41 +0000glaad31163 at http://www.glaad.orghttp://www.glaad.org/2008/10/10/religions-role-in-shaping-conversation-about-hate-crimes#comments